Erstellt am: 11. 5. 2009 - 06:00 Uhr
Careless Polar Bars and Fierce Penguins
Last autumn I spent a sobering day at the World Water Congress, held here in Vienna. I learned about how, in the shadow of global warming, parts of the ancient wetlands of Australia are being reduced to toxic puddles. I heard how the Sea of Galilee was draining fast while profligate Israeli farmers continue to raise thirsty avocados out of the desert. And I learned of the concept of virtual water.
Reporting back for Reality Check on this vital issue, I just wish I'd had the vision and creativity of Emily Webber, Samantha Pickles, Jen Robinson, Sarah Butler and Karen Turley, who won a competition launched by the British Environment Agency.
Their short film, part of the Tomorrow's World short film competition plays out to the tune of Daft Punk's Human After All and stars the rapper Coolio as a dopey but affable Polar Bear and Manc media legend Terry Christian as his irate Penguin flatmate.
It's been a while since I heard that wonderful northern English insult numpty!
Who says that green issues are no laughing matter?
Since I'm on the subject of our pole-dwelling friends, a particularly melancholic penguin and his existential despair has become the surprise hero of eccentric film-maker Werner Herzog here in his bizarre film Encounters At The End of the World; and, on a serious note, it has been a bad few days for polar bears. On Friday Barack Obama's administration decided to uphold a Bush-era ruling that limits protection of the polar bear from global warming
The rule had denied protection to the polar bear because Bush did not want to be pressed into regulating the industries that emit greenhouse gases by the legal implications of the Endangered Species Act.
Can we save the bears' habitat? No we can't, apparently.